No more clockblocking with March update

Last week, Nvidia released a driver update that removed the ability for consumers to overclock their GeForce GTX 900M Series GPUs. The reason for this, the company explained, was that, “GeForce notebooks were not designed to support overclocking.” Since then, there has been a general outcry from PC enthusiasts who might wish to overclock, or underclock, their mobile GPUs. In response, Nvidia has decided to restore the ability to overclock the GTX 900M series with a driver update that will be available in March.

Nvidia confirms it doesn't want you overclocking its GTX 900M GPUs

To overclock or not to overclock -- it's a question every enthusiast wonders at some point or another. The primary advantage to overclocking is a free performance boost, provided you don't fry anything in the process. And of course the downsides are the various risks, from instability to cooking your components. It's those downsides that prompted Nvidia to take away the ability to overclock (or underclock) GeForce GTX 900M Series GPUs through a recent driver update.

Learn how to wring every last bit of performance out of your video card

Overclocking a graphics card used to be more trouble than it was worth, but things have changed. EVGA Precision X and MSI Afterburner are just two of the most popular choices for software overclocking. AMD even bundles its own overclocking solution—AMD OverDrive—with its Catalyst drivers. Wringing more performance out of your graphics card is now as simple as moving a few sliders and testing for stability with a benchmark.

G.Skill Ripjaws 4 memory kit hits 4355MHz

You know that friend of yours that can't help but to go over the speed limit at every opportunity? That's G.Skill, a memory maker that's heavily involved in the overclocking scene, and with DDR4 RAM being relatively new, there's plenty of uncharted memory frequency territory to explore. A month ago, G.Skill set a DDR4 memory record by taking a single 4GB module and pushing it to 4,255MHz. And this month? G.Skill broke its own DDR4 frequency record by hitting 4,355MHz.

A graphics card build for overclocking

Renowned overclocker K|NGP|N (or Kingpin, from here on out) has endorsed EVGA's latest GeForce GTX 980 graphics card, which has been "meticulously designed for the extreme overclocker." More than just lip service, this card packs a 14+3 power phase design, a new digitally controlled VRM capable of delivering up to a whopping 600A of current, and three power inputs (two 8-pin and a single 6-pin).

The need for speed

Now that Haswell-E and accompanying Intel X99-based motherboards requiring DDR4 RAM are here, we expect to see a lot of record announcements. It always happens when new platforms are introduced, and G.Skill is wasting no time adding to its virtual shelf of overclocking tropies -- G.Skill today announced that it set a new memory record for fastest DDR4 memory frequency at 4,255MHz.

External card helps to regulate voltages

One reason to get into the hardcore overclocking scene is because you get to play with the latest gear. If you're particularly good at your craft, companies will stumble over themselves trying to hook you up with high-end hardware as you chase world overclocking and benchmark records, as they all want their brands associated with such feats. So, it's not surprising that Asus has sent out a handful of external power card prototypes to the overclocking community.

Intel’s fastest mobile CPU gets faster

The Core i7-4940MX, which boasts a base frequency of 3.10GHz and a Turbo Boost speed of 4.10GHz, may currently be Intel’s most powerful mobile offering, but apparently even that isn’t quite enough for engineers over at Dell’s Alienware division. Taking matters into their own hands, they have managed to overclock the chip to 4.4GHz and made the souped-up Core i7-4940MX available for purchase as part of their Alienware 17 and 18 gaming notebooks.

Intel soldered the CPU die to the integrated heat spreader

A picture making the rounds on the web shows what Intel's upcoming Core i7 5960X Haswell-E processor will look like if you have the nerve to pry off the integrated heat spreader (IHS). If you look close, you can see that beneath the adhesive layer that secures the IHS to the package is soldering from where Intel soldered the CPU die to the IHS with a strong epoxy. If you're an overclocker or otherwise concerned with temps, this a good sight to see.

Calling all overclockers

Do you have a need, a need for speed? When you're finished watching Top Gun, check out what Adata just added to its product lineup. The memory maker announced a new high-performance XPG V3 Series of overclocking RAM that the company claims can run at up to 3,100MHz in dual-channel mode. As you might expect, Adata is targeting PC enthusiasts and performance junkies with this latest line.